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Topic: Is Ebay no longer a reliable source for modern Chinese coins? (Read 6921 times)

During the past ten or more years, I have watched the Ebay listings for modern Chinese coins and medals. I enjoyed seeing the listings, the pictures, the Buy-It-Now prices, the active bidding for certain non-Buy-It-Now listed items and the prices of completed transactions. Recently, I have watched the significant increase in Ebay listings of non-authentic modern Chinese coins. Along with this wave of listings, I have seen my interest in Ebay listings decline.

Forum members have actively exposed Ebay sellers of non-authentic coins. They have shared this information with us. They have reported these sellers to Ebay. At times, the listings have been "pulled" by Ebay due to the forum member efforts.

This has changed my approach to my hobby. Now, I purchase most coins or medals for my collection at coin shows or live auctions.

How have you been impacted, if at all, by this wave of fake listings on Ebay?

About 8 years ago when I first started collecting MCC, I bought quite a few ungraded coins/medals on E Bay. I only got burned a couple of times because I quickly learned who the " good " dealers were. Now, I buy almost all of my coins/medals graded by NGC from only a hand full of dealers that I have done business with for years. It is certainly more expensive to buy graded coins but it takes the guess work and potential fake coins out of the equation. I think E Bay has seriously hurt their image and reputation with MCC collectors with their attitude about fake ( mostly Pandas ) coin sellers. It has to be hurting their bottom line so I'm surprised that they don't get aggressive about the situation.

I emailed and then called ebay to complain. Told them to Search - 5 oz silver china. Usually 75 to maybe 200 listings. Let say 150 listings. A few days ago there were 1,500 listings, all fakes, so why Search ebay? Ebay is well aware of the problem but the fakes sell and they get paid. Another top collector pointed out to me the 100 yr old Chinese silver dollar market and fakes. Tons of fakes but the genuine graded ones still sell. We need more members to call ebay as it has more impact then emails. We also need a site to sell real MCC without ebay and paypal optional.........

I am with Mark on his comments ,I cant be bothered scanning e bay any longer last night I scanned 11 pages (25 listings per page) finally I came to a coin in OMP that was actually genuine, it is ridiculous.............

I only buy a handful of gold pandas in omp each year on eBay. My major purchases occur thru the HK auctions held several times per year by Stacks or Champion. I have been doing this for at least 2 years. Prices are much more reasonable than eBay and there can be a great variety to choose from. Plus it's fun to participate via live auction in the Internet. Although I must say the times are way inconvenient on the east coast but it's worth it. Also I have lost interest in searching eBay due to all the fakes.

I am with Mark and Chris there comments are spot on unfortunately I do sell a few coins to support my collecting and e bay holds the widest audience to at least try and get a fair price for them. I do believe someone with the resources and time would do very well setting up an auction site for MCC advertising in all the trade publications and at shows to garner the audience ,charge a fair fee ,and have a couple of experts on staff that quickly scan the proposed listings for authenticity before allowing them on the site .An auction site for MCC lovers!, buyers could be assured reasonably as what they are buying is authentic ,sellers would be happy as they would have a great option for selling to an audience that are MCC enthusiast . I would LOVE to be a customer! Colin:) ?? :) Arif :)

As a sample, this morning I looked at eBay's listings of ungraded 1996 1 oz. silver Pandas. In my judgement there were 16 genuine (one of which is in almost uncirculated condition!) and 21 fakes for sale. In other words less than half the coins were genuine.

HERE IS THE SAD STORY OF SOMEONE ON E BAY THAT HAS LOST SUBSTANTIAL MONEYS DUE TO FAKES POSTED ON E BAY

CHINESE PANDAS3 comments

Nov 21, 2015 7:56 PMpoconobear51 wrote:THANK YOU... I was a complete novice and very naïve... lost thousands and trying to recoup right now on fake Chinese coins...all the buyers that I bought from are now delisted but ebay policy is 30 days ,, got those refunded.. but paypal is different story,,,,altho 90 days they are being absurd... some claims they want sent back which would cost hundreds of dollars I don't have.. I'm permanently disabled and this was to be down the road income...they also said anymore claims and I would b listed as a bad buyer. and banned from paypal after I bought over 1500 coins since may...I have about another 150 transactions to give them... real 5 oz pandas have 50 on front.. fake ones being still sold don't.. the ones with coa s don't have a serial number on them... also fake coa s are being sold.. Ive seen for as high as 90 dollars...if u search Chinese panda coins they r still hundreds of fakes listed. pass this on to as many as u can!

Way to many fake coins on eBay. However I just bought a sealed 1/10 platinum 1993 panda on eBay. I paid $350. I just had it certified and it graded a ngc pr69. I would say that was a deal. But this is a very rare occurrence. There are some (few) deals if we know what we are looking for. Platinum pandas are very rare in numbers so I think they are less counterfeited opposed to the silver pandas. I just don't know where else to look besides eBay. I know this forum is a great spot but we all know our coins here.

I think almost everyone on this forum could share a story about how they got burned by a fake, lost some money, or had to spend time and frustration getting a refund. The day that I say that I know my coins is the day that I think I will be vulnerable to the next generation, high quality fake, or to some scam. I just try to stay vigilant and informed, and minimize the downside. Fortunately, I think the total costs of fakes I got stuck with (didn't catch them in time for a return) amounts to less than $100 overall. But I will share this tale of when I almost got burned for >$10,000. http://china-mint.info/forum/index.php?topic=9335.0 Thank goodness I followed my gut and paid by paypal instead of sending the bank wire the scamster wanted.

We all need to stay vigilant and humble, and share our hard-earned lessons with each other.